10 Reasons God Of War Is The PS4's Best Exclusive
9. Fantastic Story & Characterisation
The God of War games haven't exactly been renowned for their tight story and rich characters up to this point, but the new game is a very different beast indeed.
The balance between gameplay and narrative is extremely well-considered, laying out a seemingly simple journey for Kratos and Atreus that, inevitably, is anything but. Hurdles are presented that feel organic to the journey, and Cory Barlog does a fantastic job exploring how these obstacles develop father and son as characters.
There are incredibly few moments here where the player is saddled with reams of exposition, which was one of the biggest issues with Horizon Zero Dawn last year: the game too often made you stop playing and listen to a lore dump or shot-reverse-shot conversation with boring, static camera angles.
That's never the case here, and the way information is doled out feels much more natural and to-the-point. At its core the story is driven firmly by the central relationship, which pays off in an unexpectedly poignant way by the time the credits roll on the adventure.
That a franchise whose origins are rooted in unapologetically brainless hack 'n slash mayhem has grown into a legitimately involving, well-wrought piece of epic drama is, frankly, shocking.